The Broadening Protection Gap possible or not and whether the UNRWA assistance has ceased. 66 If it is assessed that this is not possible, refugee status should be granted automatically, without applying art 1A of the 1951 Refugee Convention. According to the CGRS, 67 two conditions should be met cumulatively in order for the second paragraph of art 1D to apply. First, the applicant must have fled because their ‘personal safety was at serious risk’ 68 and, secondly, the applicant must demonstrate that the UNRWA is not able to fulfil its mission of assistance and protection. 69 Additionally the CGRS examines whether return to the UNRWA area of operation is legally, practically and safely possible. In practice, this leads to Palestinians from Syria and, until very recently, from Gaza being recognised as refugees, while Palestinians from Lebanon were generally rejected (they must otherwise show in concreto that their personal safety was at risk or that they were vulnerable due to specific socio-economic hardship). Since the beginning of 2017, the practice of the CGRS towards Palestinians from Gaza has changed. Protection is no longer granted automatically as the CGRS is of the opinion that returns to Gaza are possible through Egypt. The CALL opposed these findings for a long time, holding that return through Egypt was not possible nor safe, and that the dire humanitarian situation 70 and continuing state of violence and insecurity 71 were severe enough to prohibit all returns. Recently, however, the General Assembly of the CALL overturned this established jurisprudence and found that the UNRWA: is currently still operational in Gaza; that although the security situation in Gaza is precarious, a return for Gaza residents is possible; that there is no systematic persecution of Palestinians in the Gaza Strip; and that not all inhabitants of the Gaza Strip live in deplorable conditions. The CALL concludes that not all former Gaza residents are eligible for international 66 67 68 69 70 71 The UNRWA-assistance has ceased in case: (1) of abolition of the UNRWA; (2) it is impossible for the UNRWA to carry out its mission; or (3) the departure of the individual is justified by reasons beyond his control and independent of his volition. The Council for Alien Law Litigation clarifies that the following elements should be taken into consideration: the general security situation; possibility of return; flight motives; socio-economic conditions; other elements specific to the applicant’s situation that put the party in a personal situation of serious insecurity. See App No 228.889, 18 November 2019 (Council for Alien Law Litigation) <https://www.rvv-cce.be/sites/default/files/arr/a228889.an_.pdf> (‘CALL 228.889’); App No 228.946, 19 November 2019 (Council for Alien Law Litigation) <https://www.rvv-cce.be/sites/default/files/arr/a228946.an_.pdf> (‘CALL 228.946’); App No 228.949, 19 November 2019 (Council for Alien Law Litigation) <https://www.rvvcce.be/sites/default/files/arr/a228949.an_.pdf> (‘CALL 228.949’). The first instance administrative body in asylum matters. According to the Commissioner General for Refugees and Stateless (‘CGRS’) this entails ‘persecution’ in the sense of art 1A of the 1951 Refugee Convention or ‘serious harm’ in the sense of art 15 of the Qualification Directive; socio-economic difficulties are, however, not considered to constitute this situation unless they reach a threshold level of persecution, being serious harm. La Réception de la Directive Qualification en Droit Belge, Annexes au Rapport Intermédiaire [Receipt of the Qualification Directive under Belgian Law, Appendices to the 2013 Interim Report] (Report, Equipe Droits Européens et Migrations 2013) 3. App No 182.381, 16 February 2017 (Council for Alien Law Litigation) <https://www.rvvcce.be/sites/default/files/arr/A182381.AN.pdf>; Raad voor Vreemdelingen-Betwistingen App No 190.280, 31 July 2017 (Council for Alien Law Litigation) <https://www.rvvcce.be/sites/default/files/arr/A190280.AN.pdf>. App No 219.546, 8 April 2019 (Council for Alien Law Litigation) <https://www.rvvcce.be/sites/default/files/arr/a219546.an_.pdf>; App No 220.747, 6 May 2019 (Council for Alien Law Litigation) <https://www.rvv-cce.be/sites/default/files/arr/a220747.an_.pdf>. 311